Testing AR in Unity without a Device

Sometimes when you’re building an AR project in Unity, it is nice to be able to test it out without having to build it and install it on a device. In this article, I will show you how. I am assuming that you have your project already set up for AR. If not, please see my article on setting up AR in Unity.

The first step is to enable XR Simulation in the Project Settings. Go to Edit -> Project Settings -> XR Plug-in Management. Make sure that you have the Windows, Mac, Linux tab selected and then check the XR Simulation check box.

Because I’m creating an AR project, I need some simulated environments to try it out on. By clicking Window -> XR -> AR Foundation -> XR Environment -> Install sample environments, you will have access to several different environments such as, bedrooms, dining rooms, kitchens, etc.

Once the simulated environments are installed, you need to change some settings to allow the simulated environment to show in the Game View window.

In the Project tab -> Settings folder, you should see several different URP Renderer settings objects. In my project, I have three different ones, Balanced, HighFidelity and Performant.

Select one of the Renderers and then scroll down to the bottom where there is a Add Renderer Feature button. Click on it and then select, AR Background Renderer Feature. This will allow the simulated environment to show in the Game View window. Do this to all of the different URP Renderers in your project.

You should now be ready to test your project.